Understanding the Experiential World of the Dying

Limits to Sociological Research

Bibliographic Data

ID13630678
AuthorsSuhita Chopra Chatterjee (0000-0002-1788-4418, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume48
Issue3
Pages195-202
Publication date2004-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/8weu-wvdd-8ebf-h44n
OpenAlexW2106479193
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

In recent years there has been a proliferation of literature on Sociology of Dying. However, sociologists often treat the experience of those who are critically ill as similar to those who are really dying. This article argues that the level of emotional experience of one who is facing death is different from one who is critically ill but can intellectually anticipate it as the end of one's existence. In other words, dying, though mostly contiguous with illness experience, is not to be treated as synonymous with it. This study further shows how the complex issues related to the dying person's world defy a systematic sociological enquiry, as many of the conventional methods of sociological research fail to gain access to the self of the dying. It concludes by suggesting the need for a thoroughgoing rejuvenation of sociological methods and theories to accommodate the dying phenomenon

Epistemology · Experiential learning · Phenomenon · Social science · Sociological imagination · Sociological research · Sociological theory · Sociology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Philosophy · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

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